Crochet Bird

Ok, so I know that I was going to put up a sneaky peak of the crocheted gift I had made but as it's taken me so long to write this post, the receiver of the present has now had the little bird for so long now that this post is now just a straight up, plain and simple reveal. 

First things first though, I feel I should give credit for the creation to a lady who has a blog called Attic 24. This is a lovely blog that is full of lovely crocheted items where she often puts the patterns for them on her blog for free! 

As I'm on one of my crochet rampages where I can't seem to get enough of it at the moment, I searched through some ideas on what to crochet my friend. 

I find it funny how I switch to preferring knitting and then  switching again to crochet. I never tend to have a knitting project and crochet project running at the same time either. I guess it's because it's craft offers different things. Crochet is generally faster so is great to do on the side with college work. 

But anyway, I went of one a little natter there. Back on track now. I saw this pattern for the bird a while back and for some reason thought that this gift would be something that would suit her. Choosing colours not to dissimilar to the tutorial, I ended up with this cute little thing!

Do you like it? I think it's got quite a quirky cute look about it which was something I thought my friend would enjoy. It ended up travelling in the post although not flying there but rather squashed up in the only size jiffy bag I could find. It's made of strong stuff though so I'm sure it survived the journey!

As well as crocheting this, I'm also busy crocheting a pillow for myself. This seems a fairly simple project considering that it's me but as funny as it sounds, I've actually wanted to make one for a long time but been distracted with all the amazing knitted toys I realised you could make! 

I'll show you some photos of this as soon as I've put them on my computer so expect a post coming shortly. This should be a guarantee as I have now finished college! I'm all done and dusted for the year which seems pretty crazy as it didn't feel long ago that I started the course! 

Still, it's been a great year and now looms ahead the exciting prospect of a whole summer to catch up on those projects that have been put on the back burner. This should mean some more frequent blog posts and although I know, it's something I always say but I'm determined to keep a better record of the things that I do now that I'm not run over with my college blog now. 

Honestly, I've got so many things to tell you already that I think will make pretty juicy posts so please do join me in my reminiscing of the recent past!

Koura

Well as I said in the last post, Koura went on Saturday! To complete the whole process of the puppies going, here is her official leaving photo to prove it:

After having a lovely morning playing in the garden with Jenna, her new owners came and took her away! I've since heard from them which is lovely and she's doing really well and apart from crying a bit, she's been really good apparently!

At ten weeks old, she was definitely ready to go and although it has felt a little funny for the first couple of days without any puppies, it's amazing how quickly life goes back to how it was before. With the half term week this week, I've spent my time chilling with the lovely prospect that I can actually go out without worrying who will be in for the puppies and on Monday, have actually gone on a great day out with my friend to Manchester. FREEDOM!!

Ok, so I speak maybe too soon. With this half term week falling slap bang in the middle of my final major piece at college, it has meant that I have been tied down to a certain extent with college work. But hey ho, apart from the mini evaluations that I have to do everything time I create something, it isn't actually too taxing. I won't reveal anything about my final piece yet, but I promise to show you it when it's completed!

Well, I think that's about it from me for now. Stay tuned for some crafty creations that I've been up to including a little sneak peak of a gift that I've made for someone. As they have not received it yet, I'll not ruin the surprise and put all of it on for now just in case they read this blog before their little parcel reaches them!

Hope your all having a lovely half term despite the bad weather! 

Going, going, gone!

Ok, so it's a bit of a corny title but there you go!

Well, I can't believe it. It's all nearly over! We are left with just one puppy in the house and even then, she's leaving tomorrow. It's been such a great experience raising the puppies. Hard work, I'll admit and the business side of things dealing with the people has been a bit stressful at times but definitely well worth it.

As you know, I've been taking photos of each puppy on the day that they leave. As I haven't gotten round to regularly posting on this blog, I'm posting them all at once but they've been steadily going in these past couple of weeks.

Tilly now named Mary Poppins!

Lola, now called Zula. Mary Poppins and Zula are currently living together with a lovely family till they meet up with the family's Mum where Zula will live with her in Scotland.

Milo is now called Bertie!

Clover, now called Bella.

Barney who is still has that name now!

All now with lovely people and homes! The great thing about it too is that some have been keeping in touch and sending update emails and photos. This has just been so great and hopefully, we'll even get to meet up again with some of them so Jenna can have a play with her ever growing puppies.

Speaking of Jenna and playing, this is what Jenna and Koura have been doing non stop all week. It's been such a joy to watch and I think has definitely been a big part of having just Koura with us so special. 

I think these photos sum up perfectly the relationship that these two have developed. Koura is so much like Jenna in personality and is so chilled out but does have her little cheeky side. When I say that Peppa will probably be pleased of Kouras permanent departure tomorrow, I think you get what I mean. Despite Peppa's warning growls, Koura has shown that though not quite pouncing on her, has certainly enjoyed winding Peppa up from a distance! This was exactly what Jenna used to do as a puppy.

It's actually been quite odd having Koura here which by the way is now to be called Molly. It feels like I've been warped back in time to when Jenna was little. It's certainly going to be harder saying goodbye to her than the others but I know that she'll have a great home and that in the long run, three dogs just simply wouldn't be feasible.

So there we have it! By this time tomorrow, we will be without puppies but in need of a rest. A bit downhearted but contented. The experiences of raising a litter was certainly not without it's lows but the highs have definitely been all I was hoping for. And you know what, with the amazing help of my family, I don't think that we did a bad job at all!

Would I do it again? Probably not. But I can say that I've achieved one of my dreams that helped get me through my illness and loved it at the same time!

Dear me!

I think this title is pretty apt for the slogan of my life at the moment. I just cannot believe how crazy it has been here in these past couple of weeks.

First we had our amazing 'Big Bash' party celebrating numerous family occasions including mine and Ellen's birthday! I can't believe that I'm now 20!!! It was such a great weekend and I know that a lot of people who read this blog went and helped make our party be so great!

The puppies are now nearly 9 weeks old! Typing this write now, we have currently 6 puppies still here with us after Milo went on Sunday and Nutmeg the Monday. What I'm trying to do with each puppy on the day they go, is to take a lovely last photo of them here.

Riley now called Milo

Nutmeg now called Honey

So far both puppies have settled into their new homes really well. It's so great to hear this as obviously we do try to get them sent to good homes as this gives them the best possible start in life!

It's set to be another busy weekend which isn't that much of a surprise really! By the end of this weekend, we should be left with only three puppies left as Milo, now called Bertie leaves on Sunday and Tilly, now called Mary Poppins (How great! But Poppy I think for short) leaves on Saturday. The owners of her will also be taking probably Lola and holding her for her Mum to later take too! Clover who is now called Bella will then leave next Friday

After that there is just Barney and Koura still to sell. We have someone interested in Barney so hopefully that goes well.

It's all been really manic trying to sell them all and then of course looking after the ever growing puppies but the end is nearing site. Everybody here is so so tired and though we agree we'll miss the puppies, we are looking forward to that rest period!

However, I of course still have college and things are hotting up there as I well and truly enter my Final Major Piece. This so far is going ok but as I'm so busy at home, it's meant that I'm not doing as much as I want to do. Speaking of not doing college work, I should be doing that now so I best tootle off and crack down with that whilst the puppies are still asleep!

My piece

Well I told you that I would show you my final piece soon. I'm really eager to show this work to you as I'd welcome any feedback particularly in the way of what to call it. I feel that it needs a title but I can't think of one that is suitable.

But never mind that for now, lets show you the piece itself:

The assignment that we were given had a title of 'Being Human'. In this we could work with whatever medium we chose and do whatever sub theme we wanted as long it fitted into being human.

For this, I chose to do humanities relationship with religion as I feel this a big part of what sets us apart from any other being on this planet.

Here you can see in my piece a figure emerging from a book. The figure has been made completely out of the bible that it's coming out of in order to hopefully give the analogy of how we use the bible to help shape our faith and also in a way our identities through that.

The light that's been placed inside I hope signifies the strength that we often draw from religion and a hope and trust that fuels people with religious beliefs on.

I found it quite a challenging subject to try and portray into art. At first I was planning on creating a paper cut like the one I created for my mum for mother's day below:

However, I found such a big message hard to convey in 2D form such as this so thus was born the 3D book sculpture.

I'm keen as I said to hear what people think of it as feedback good or bad I think is an important part of improving as an artist which is obviously something that I'm keen to do.

Having finished this piece the other day, we then go straight into our final major piece of the year on Monday. I can't believe that this will be the last assignment of this college year. I've loved it so much and can't wait to progress onto my next course.

I guess I have to say something about that actually. It's looking now like I'm going to be doing the 2 year level 3 course instead of Foundation. Though this in some way is a bit of a shame, it's the best thing as it gives me time to get those essential GCSE's and more time to think about what I want to study at University. But whatever course I take, I know I'll love it as either way I'll be doing art!



Crocheting again

Sorry I haven't been on here for a while. I know that there are a couple of religious followers that check my blog every day so I thought I'd write this post so as not to disappoint them anymore than I may have done already!

Well it's been a whirlwind of a last couple of weeks here. The puppies are now over 5 weeks old so the care that the require has stepped up a lot. With the early morning demanding feeds several times a day, I can't think that it's too dissimilar to having a baby especially when they wake you at 4.30 in the morning!

But apart from that, they are such a joy to have and I'm loving it as you can see above! And that's just as well because at the moment, only one of them has been sold despite adverts up for them on a couple of sites. I'm sure I'll get them sold eventually but at the moment, it's looking like we might have them for a while!

College has also been a busy time as I've just been in the throws of final piece week for my latest assignment. I'm keen to show you my piece which is now all finished so watch out for that in another post.

And I don't know how, but somehow I've managed to actually pick up my crochet hook again (after blowing the cobwebs of it as I haven't crocheted or knitted for ages) and create a little gift for someone at the college who was unfortunately leaving. 

 Flicking through crochet books, I found this little owl that I've always wanted to make so did for this lady at college.

I was surprised at how I hadn't lost the flow of crocheting at all. I guess it's one of those skills that you don't lose, like riding a bike! It was great to be doing some crocheting again. It took me a nice evening watching some catch up TV and I think the gift went down well.

Well I think that's all from me at the moment. I'll put up a post about my final piece soon I promise so keep your eyes peeled.

Puppy Pictures

It's been a couple of days since I said that I would put photographs on and I've finally gotten round to sorting them now. Believe me, it was hard to tell which puppy was which given that they all look remarkably similar front on.

These collection of photos were taken to show how they had just opened their eyes properly for the first time! As I didn't want to use flash, I used a relatively slow shutter speed which was hard to use when you are trying to capture squirmy puppies. But, I'd rather have some slightly blurry photos than blind puppies from a flash any day.

I know that they'll all look the same to you (they do to me in these photos!) but I've really studied them to be able to tell you exactly who's who. Enjoy!



Barney

Clover

Koura

Lola

Milo

Nutmeg

Riley

Tilly

So there you are! Do you have any favourites?!

Puppy Update

Photos to follow I promise but as I've taken so many, it's taking a fair bit of time to sort through them all!

In the mean time though, I thought that I'd give an update to how the are all doing as I haven't done that for a while. Well, all is good and they're still continuing to do really well. It's starting to get quite exciting now as one of them has actually opened their eyes today!! A couple of others are peeping a little bit which is quite cute.

They are also trying to tentatively work out whether their back legs are used for anything better than just dragging them around. I've seen a few of them definitely up on all fours even if it's just for a milli second before landing splat back down, legs splayed out like Bambi!

Jenna is doing well too but I can see the strain that having puppies has had on her. She seems a little run down with her paw rather sore after she pulled out the fur. (I know, nice right?!) Along with a slightly infected eye, her regime consists of a three times daily salt foot bath, an eye wash followed by a calcium tablet. Oh, and she also has her ears cleaned twice a week!! The things you do for the animals you love eh! It all seems to be working so that's rewarding in itself.

Anyway, I'll stop boring you with all my doggy nursing stories. Some pictures to follow of all eight of them soon!

Art Interview!

Well it's been a big week for me. Not only have I got little puppies in my life, (which by the way, are all doing really well stilll) I also had my art interview today for the foundation pre degree course that I've been applying for.

It went really well and I've been offered a place on the course which is so exciting!

The lady that interviewed me who I already know due to the fact that I'm at the college already was really nice. Together we looked at my portfolio and discussed exactly what it was that I was wanting out of the course and where I saw myself going. It's exciting and daunting to think that this time next year, I might be getting offers from universities!

As I said, I'm really happy that I've got on the course. I think this will be a great to chance to really push myself in art and to hopefully gain some pretty cool skills and improve my work.

So yes. Just thought I'd share that little bit of news with you all!

The Naming Ceremony

Last night was spent properly assigning names to each of the puppies. This was a cause for much confusion as they all look fairly similar! However, after getting our heads round each marking of the puppy and assigning a name to it, we got there.

So in no particular order, here are the names that we've chosen:

Nutmeg

This is the orange roan girl that I had to help bring to life. She's doing ok at the moment although I was slightly concerned about her last night.

Barney

An orange roan boy who has a spot right in the middle of his back.

Lola

A sweet little one with a love heart shaped marking on her side as well as a zigzag on her shoulder.

Koura

This was a name that I chose at 3 am in the morning. I love the names that the New Zealand places have so was keen to try and squeeze a name out of that somewhere. I started thinking of the place Kaikoura and thought that shortening it to Koura sounded like a nice girl's name.

Milo
This was a name that was suggested by somebody that we know. As soon as we heard the name, there was a chorus of 'aww' sounds floating around the room from all of us. So it was agreed. Milo for the last boy.

Tilly
But Matilda if she's naughty! Have always liked this name and thought that it really suited the little puppy. This one is my Dad's favourite as she's one of the smaller ones so he likes to watch out for her, bless!

Clover
My sister's name choice which fits quite well as she has a large patch on her side that vaguely resembles a clover.

Riley
The first one to be born and the largest. He certainly makes it known when he's not happy!

So there you are. I think I got them all. Now that we've names for them, it is actually easier to tell which one is which. This works great as we'll be able to keep an eye on each puppy's progress better. Put it this way, when we go to weight them again we wont get so confused this time...well that's the theory anyway!

They all seem so much more settled today which is good. It's amazing how in just a couple of days they seem to have gotten into a routine. As I said above, a couple of them are a slight cause for concern but nothing major.

Will keep you posted as always.